Rep. Micah Van Huss, R-Jonesborough, gestures during a House floor session in Nashville on Monday, April 14, 2014. Van Huss is a main sponsor of a bill seeking to remove a requirement to obtain a state-issued permit to openly carry handguns in public.NASHVILLE - A bill seeking to allow Tennesseans to openly carry firearms in public without permits has been defeated in a House subcommittee.
The House Finance Subcommittee voted 10-1 on Monday night against the measure sponsored by Republican Rep. Micah Van Huss of Jonesborough.
Van Huss told reporters after the vote that he will abandon an effort to circumvent the committee and call the bill for a full floor vote. That motion would have required the support of 66 representatives in the 99-member chamber.
The full Senate had passed its version of the bill on a 25-2 vote last week.
The measure sought to eliminate the state's background and training requirements for openly carrying guns in public, but would have kept the permit rules in place for concealed firearms.